The United States had no process in place to build a mass army, supply it, transport it and fight it. Both the country and the Army were absolutely unprepared for what was going to happen. Army was a constabulary force of 127,151 soldiers. “That meant building an Army and engaging the enemy on the Western Front.”ĭoing that was no simple task. “For the United States to have a voice at the peace table, it had to make a significant contribution to the war effort,” Neumann said. They saw the war as an inferno that would topple empires so democracy and the will of the people could triumph. Still others believed that going to war had to mean something greater than simply returning to the status quo on the continent, Neumann said. Others felt it was all right to help France, but not to help Great Britain, he said. Some Americans believed that because a naval provocation led to the war, the proportional response would be a naval campaign against Germany. Neumann, who edited a series on the Army during World War I, said it wasn’t a done deal that Americans would go to France to help man the Western Front. In France, the battle came to symbolise the determination of the French Army and the destructiveness of the war.“The United States was in it, but they had to define what ‘it’ meant,” said Brian Neumann, a historian at the Army’s Center of Military History. In 2014, William Philpott wrote of 976,000 casualties in 1916 and 1,250,000 in the vicinity of Verdun. In 2000, Hannes Heer and Klaus Naumann calculated that the French suffered 377,231 casualties and the Germans 337,000, a total of 714,231 and an average of 70,000 a month. The battle lasted for 302 days, one of the longest and costliest in human history. In September and December, French counter-offensives recaptured much ground on the east bank and recovered Fort Douaumont and Fort Vaux. The offensive was reduced further but to keep French troops away from the Somme, ruses were used to disguise the change. From 23 June to 17 August, Fleury changed hands sixteen times and a German attack on Fort Souville failed. Fleury was captured and the Germans came within 2.5 mi (4 km) of the Verdun citadel but in July the offensive was cut back to provide troops, artillery and ammunition for the Battle of the Somme, leading to a similar transfer of the French Tenth Army to the Somme front. The Germans advanced towards the last geographical objectives of the original plan, at Fleury-devant-Douaumont and Fort Souville, driving a salient into the French defences. The Germans tried alternating their attacks on either side of the Meuse and in June captured Fort Vaux. In early May, the Germans changed tactics again and made local attacks and counter-attacks the French recaptured part of Fort Douaumont but then the Germans ejected them and took many prisoners. The German offensive was extended to the west bank of the Meuse to gain observation and eliminate the French artillery firing over the river but the attacks failed to reach their objectives. By 29 March, French guns on the west bank had begun a constant bombardment of Germans on the east bank, causing many infantry casualties. Philippe Pétain ordered there to be no retreat and that German attacks were to be counter-attacked, despite this exposing French infantry to the German artillery. By 6 March, 20 + 1 ⁄ 2 French divisions were in the RFV and a more extensive defence in depth had been organised. The advance then slowed for several days, despite inflicting many French casualties. Poor weather delayed the beginning of the attack until 21 February but the Germans captured Fort Douaumont in the first three days.
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